NTSB's Homendy cites 'poor safety culture' in WMATA's 2021 train derailment

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Kawasaki.

A Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) train derailment in October 2021 was the result of a "poor safety culture" at the agency, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy announced yesterday.

At a press conference, Homendy released the results of the NTSB's investigation into the accident, which occurred when train 407, consisting of eight rail cars and carrying 187 passengers and the operator, derailed while traveling from Rosslyn Station toward Arlington Cemetery Station on the Blue Line in Arlington, Virginia.

In its report, the NTSB lays out the technical causes of the derailment. However, Homendy said a lack of focus on safety within the organization ultimately resulted in the accident.

"This incident was 100% preventable," she said.

The derailment occurred because the wheels of one wheelset had migrated outward on its axle, resulting in a width larger than the design specification. The wheel migration happened over time, eventually causing the wheelset to exceed its maximum design width. When the wheelset traveled over a turnout, the out-of-specification wheelset width caused a wheel to leave the rail, derailing a rail car, according to the NTSB report.

The accident occurred in a tunnel south of the Rosslyn Station platform. All rail cars remained upright and in-line. The passengers and operator were evacuated to Arlington Cemetery Station. No injuries were reported; one passenger was transported to the hospital, treated and released.

NTSB investigators found that one department within WMATA was aware of wheel migration in its rail-car fleet and attempted to mitigate the associated safety risks, but the department did not conduct a trend analysis to monitor the incidence of wheel migration or how effective its mitigations were. A trend analysis would have shown the increasing incidence of wheel migration and made an effective response more likely, NTSB officials said.

WMATA has since made improvements to its safety management systems and has plans to expand its use of trend- analysis and related tools to identify and mitigate safety risks before accidents occur. The oversight of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission is vital to supporting and monitoring these ongoing improvements, NTSB officials concluded.

The derailment led to WMATA removing hundreds of its new 7000-series rail cars from service. The cars are being returned to service gradually following regular inspections.

In a statement posted on the social media site X, WMATA officials said the agency "fully supports" the NTSB report.

"The collaboration and professionalism between the NTSB and WMSC have been critical to our ability to move this process forward, and we appreciate that our proactive steps have been acknowledged," WMATA stated. The agency has since issued a fleet defect notice to the rail cars’ manufacturer, Kawasaki. Based on the contract, the manufacturer is responsible for paying the costs to fix the wheelset defect.

"We are confident that our current wheelset replacement program will address this wheelset defect as we work over the next several years to repress all 7000-series wheelsets at a higher press tonnage and increased interference fit," WMATA officials stated.

The accident occurred under a previous administration at WMATA. Homendy acknowledged that current WMATA General Manager/CEO Randy Clarke is addressing the safety culture issue.

In a prepared statement, Kawasaki officials said the NTSB's conclusions "confirm" that Kawasaki met the design and mounting specifications that WMATA established for the 7000-series wheelsets.

"[A]ny suggestion that Kawasaki should absorb the cost of WMATA's own failures regarding the wheelsets of the 7000 series trains is not rooted in reality," Kawasaki stated. "As a reminder, WMATA supplied the wheelset design for the 7000 series rail cars to match their older rail cars and then failed to alert Kawasaki when they increased the mounting pressure for those older rail cars after they identified 33 instances of back-to-back failures in 2014 — before the first 7000 series car was even delivered."

WMATA mismanagement under prior leadership, cited in the NTSB report, "comes as no surprise to those who have followed the agency," the statement continued. "We look forward to seeing the 7000 series rail cars resume their legacy of safety and reliability as WMATA implements the recommendations outlined in the NTSB's report."